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January 31, 2014

8 Super Super Bowl Numbers

From $600 million to the lowly zero, some intriguing numbers behind the Super Bowl frenzy

A look at some important Super Bowl numbers, aside from the score. (Photo: AP)

The Super Bowl has grown from a game that didn’t sell out in 1967 to an unofficial national holiday it has become today.

Along the way, players have broken records, beer has been spilled and, somehow, guacamole has become the dip of choice to the point that avocado shortages can cause panic among party planners.

Fans can recite the key stats by heart. The Steelers have the most rings, six, the Packers won the first two, and on and on.

But even for non-fans, those who tune in to only to critique the ads, there are numbers that pique the interest. The numbers can be big. Half a billion big. Or small. Very small. Like zero.

But they all add up to the biggest sporting event of the year in the U.S.

Check out our 8 Super Super Bowl Numbers:

$500 million to $600 million

That’s the amount the NFL says the Super Bowl will generate in economic activity for New York City. What city wouldn’t want to put up with the headaches of planning for the big day? Well, some economists say the number is inflated, by as much as 10 times. One study showed that the average amount generated by the big game from the early 1970s to late 1990s was $32 million. We’ll punt on figuring out who’s right.

$266 million

That’s the total salary for the Seahawks and Broncos this year, with the Seattle players raking in just over half of that. Consider that the minimum salary for a veteran was just $10,000 per year in 1970.

$100 million

The amount bet on the game last year set a Super Bowl record last when it topped out at $99 million on Las Vegas sports books. The $100 million mark seems possible this year. A chart on Boydsbets.com breaking down the Vegas bets on the game since 1991 shows an astounding rise in the amount wagered. In that year, $40 million was bet on the Giants-Bills game. In case you’re wondering, the sports books made out OK, keeping $7.2 million of last year’s wagers.

$4 million

That’s the cost for 30 seconds of commercial time during the broadcast on Fox. Forbes notes that in 1967, that commercial time cost $279,000 when adjusted for inflation. With viewership more than double the 51 million of the first Super Bowl. That year, the number of viewers who saw a commercial per ad dollar spent was 183, last year the figure was down to 29. That person-per-ad price has plummeted because, even though the number of viewers has more than doubled from the 51 million of Super Bowl I, the cost of an ad has skyrocketed more 15 times.

$1.1 million

That’s the amount Indianapolis says it lost hosting the 2012 Super Bowl. Costs for insurance, turning a major street into a pedestrian mall and installing other attractions to visitors added up. Amazingly, the city had figured it would lose some money on the deal. Just not quite so much.

$2,200

Looking for a tailgate party before the big game? Well, your options are limited. To one. It’s run by the NFL and the price of admission is $2,200. Besides food and beverages, there’ll be live music and entertainment. For the record, ESPN hosts what many consider the top party of the weekend on Friday night. The cost for entry is $1,554. That’ll allow you to mingle with plenty of celebrities and listen in on music performances.

$1,300

New York might be a super expensive city, but tickets to the game can be had at relatively cheap prices. That’s if you consider well over a thousand dollars cheap. The price for seats on one secondary market plummeted as worries over cold, or even snowy, weather have been bandied about in the media. Even on the top site, Stub Hub, tickets were available for about $1,500, about a grand less than a week earlier. Those seats are all far from the action. To be closer to the field, you’ll have to part with about $2,500. The face value of seats ranges from $500 to $2,600. For the first Super Bowl in 1967, tickets went for $12. And the game wasn’t sold out.

0 and 7

That doesn’t sound like much, but if you bought a box in the office pool, those two numbers give you the best chance of winning at 13.16%, according to information on si.com that looked at every regular season and playoff game played since 2006. The combinations of zero and three and zero and zero follow. The worst pair is nine and nine at 0.13%. Not that there’s anything you can do to make sure get the best numbers.